1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to high pressure fluid choke devices and, more particularly, to choke devices designed for use on oil and gas wells.
2. Prior Art
One of the most potentially dangerous and expensive situations faced by the petrochemical industry has been prevention of well blowouts. In order to prevent well blowouts, much research and development time and money has been expended to design high pressure fluid choke devices. The most popular devices are those presently marketed by NL Industries, Inc., as described in their publication NLS 4881-580, Dresser Industries, as described in their Bulletin No. E-53031-BC, and Patterson Service, Inc. as described in their publication entitled, "When Yor Are Caught Under Pressure . . . Patterson Adjustable Choke". However, these and similar choke devices have experienced rapid deterioration of wear sleeves and other internal parts, long downtime for repairs, difficulty in handling fluid surges through chokes, or require too great of hydraulic pressure to operate the choke. Furthermore, the prior art devices are not equipped with backup systems in case the hydraulic system goes down because of cut cables or power outages.